One of my favorite music groups/recording artists of all time, (I’m talking top 5 here) U2 played their second sold out show in consecutive nights in San Jose last night and I was lucky enough to go. Even after originally giving it at pass.

When the tour was announced some time ago and I had Fan Club pre-sale opportunity I was on the fence about going and ultimately didn’t get tickets because they were ridiculously expensive, the show was quite far away (an hour’s drive) and it was happening on a school night in the middle of a rather hectic week leading up to our family vacation.

And then I thought I would probably regret not going but resigned myself to the fact that it was probably the right decision. I kept reminding myself of this as U2 came to town and the show dates started looming and concert alerts kept arriving in my inbox. I also reminded myself that every time, (and I mean every single time) I find myself debating about whether or not I should do something, or buy something, a little ridiculous and I don’t do it, I wind up regretting it and wishing I had. This was starting to seem like one of those times in the back of my head.

And then a couple of days ago my wife’s cousin Chris (which makes him my cousin Chris) told me he had tickets to Tuesday night’s show and asked if I wanted to go. Great seats. He knew I was a fan. I hemmed and hawed about it a couple of days and thought my original decision was still the right choice and the most “responsible” one. I thanked him, politely declined and told him to quit pestering me.

I tried to put it out of my mind but he didn’t quit. The night before the concert, he texted me at 10:30, “One last chance…” and showed me the tickets, which were definitely great seats. Too great to pass up. I cursed him and called him a few names and relented, “OK, I’m in!” It was a sign. I was meant to go.

So wifey sent me on my way last night with her blessing and a hint of jealously (she’s a big fan too) to go see U2 with cousin Chris, and boy was I glad I went. This was the third time I’ve seen them (the first time was at the original Wembley Stadium in London during the Zoo TV Tour, which was rather hard to beat). While this outing was a little more subdued than previous tours, it was amazing. I think Bono might still be recovering a bit from his bicycling accident. I was just glad they were there at all quite frankly. They played a lot of songs off the new album which sounded great live, and dug deep deep deep in their catalog for fan nerds like me (The Electric Co.).

The new stage setup and huge two-sided semi transparent video screen/catwalk is understated but really visually striking and engaging once things get going, and the much hyped about new sound system they’ve come up with lived up to all the hype. I think it was honestly the best sounding concert I’ve ever been to — right from the very first song. And I’ve been to a lot of shows.

So if you get a chance to go see them, and you’re at least somewhat of a fan and have a huge wad of cash burning a hole in your pocket that you don’t know what to do with and people are starting to stare, you should go buy yourself a ticket. No regrets. You’ll be glad you did.